Center of The Universe

Chapter Five- Going to Her Haven

       I had been waiting for almost three hours.  It's 1:45 am at the moment.  Which of course means that I went to bed at 10:00 pm, or my mom and dad made me.  I spent the last three hours on my phone, scrolling through Instagram.  Time usually flies by when you're browsing the internet.

I glanced at the clock on the top right section of my phone.  1:58.  I tried to laugh at the comedic pictures and references I saw on Instagram, but the intense feeling of dread stirred in my stomach and interrupted every some-what happy thought that made its way into my mind.  I kept looking back at the window that was open just enough to let Jennifer's fingers to slip through and open it.  I would always imagine her face popping up in the window before she opened the window.  My heart pounded imagining the multiple situations.  

       I glanced again.  2:00.  I looked out the window.  The reflection of car headlights danced across the walls until the sound of an engine faded into the distance.  False alarm.  I thought to myself.  Just relax.  It will be okay.  Maybe a small part of me didn't want Jennifer to show up at my window.  Maybe I did.  My head was racing, I didn't know what to think.

I heard the window slide open.  The sound that I have been waiting for three hours, had finally come.  

       "Hi, Jenni-"

       "Here.  Put these on."

She shoved a pile of clothes at me.  I held them as she walked to my bed and placed a line of pillows under the covers.  She then went all around my room, looking in the nooks and crevices.  She kept taking out these small black beads or stones or something, out of these hiding places.

       "What do you think you're doing?"  I asked

       "Covering up our tracks.  I'll explain when we're in the clear."

She held up one of the small objects that was sitting in her hand.

       "These are cameras, Lindsey.  See?  You were right."

I just stared at her in awe.

       "And don't worry the clothes that you're holding is lined with metallic-infused fabric that interrupts your tracking device and microphone."

       "Wait, what?!  My what?!  Tracking device?!  Microphone?!"

       "Oh my God you need to be quiet!  I'm not don't getting the cameras out."

       "So they can see us right now?!"  I whispered harshly.

       "Well no.  But it won't last for long.  So put those clothes on.  We need to get out of here A.S.AP.

       "Okay, wait outside.  I'll be there in a minute."

She just nodded and climbed out the window.

       I slipped the new clothes on and glanced at my phone that was laying on my bed, wondering if I should take it or not.  If it turns out to be some sort of kidnapping, I could call my parents or the cops.  I should bring it.  I shoved the phone into my back pocket and went to the window.  Jennifer was waiting at the bottom, chewing her fingernails impatiently.

       "Are you sure this is safe."  I tried whispering loud enough for her to hear me.

She simply looked up at me and nodded, then looked back toward the street.  The streetlights cast a cloud of orange glow across the road.  Jennifer was definitely paranoid about someone coming.

       I looked at the hook that was clamped on the windowsill.  The rope was wrapped in a loose coil on the grass below.  I swung my right leg out the window, then my left.  I spun my body around so I was sitting on the ledge, the only support I had was my hands gripping the windowsill.  It wasn't too far down so if I did fall the worst thing that would happen was a sprained ankle.

       Hesitation.  I let my arms support my weight as I suspended.  I could only hold on for so long.  I quickly started to slip so I grabbed anywhere above me, which just so happened to be the window knob.  It slammed shut as I glided down the rope.  I barely landed on my feet.  The collision sent a pain starting from the arch of my feet to my ankles.  I looked at my hands which were slightly red from rope burn.

I looked up at Jennifer who just finished biting her nails.

       "Someone's coming."  She said spitting out a nail and looking towards the, now closed, window.

       My eyes searched the window for shadows of my mom or dad falling against the wall.  And without warning, she grabbed my burning hand and shoved both of us behind a low-branched tree.  We both looked into the window in silence.  The silhouette of my mother cast on the wall.  It seemed as if she was looking at my bed.  Jennifer and I watched the figure of my mother disappear.  My heart was still racing when Jennifer took off behind me, stopped about a yard away and gestured me to follow her.  I hesitated, then ran after her.

      We had finally slipped out of the suburban neighborhood and into a thinly-wooded area.  It was dark until she whipped out a flashlight from her back pocket.  The brightness highlighted the pine branches and cast ghostly shadows on others.  Jennifer pushed through a couple of low branches to reveal an orange-yellow tent protected by branches curving over the camp.

       "Is this your-"

       "Home?  No.  I share an apartment with my sister, Angela."

       "Then what is this place for?"  I asked tipping my head to the sky to see the stars.

       "It's my...  Haven."

I looked back at her.

       "Your haven for what?"

       Well...  It's... Uhh...  Just let me show you."

She went inside her tent to leave me waiting outside.  I looked back to the sky.  The breeze blew my hair.  For the sky I could see through the branches,  stars littered the azure firmament.  Bright stars, the ones that the more you stared at them, the brighter they got.  

       Jennifer later came out with this large box.  It didn't look particularly heavy.  For Jennifer at least.

       "What's that?"  I asked snapping out of my star-trance.

She didn't say anything, just sat down and looked at me.  She patted the ground in front of her.  I sat down and stared at the yellow box.

       "What is that?"  I asked again gesturing towards the box with my head.

       "The determination of your fate."